Archaeologists often encounter human remains during an excavation, but sometimes the way a body is buried or the manner in which it died is just... odd. Let's take a look at:
- The brain that turned to glass
- The Roman-Neolithic mix-and-match skeleton
- The shark hunters buried with extra limbs
- The Medieval man with a knife for a hand
- The brutal bog burial of the Lindow Man
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| Herculaneum was caught in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius - would you want to live beside a ruined town filled with dead Romans? (Stormydog101) |
The Brain that Turned to Glass
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79CE it engulfed Pompeii and Herculaneum with pyroclastic surges - fast moving clouds of hot gas, ash and molten rock. Though deadly to the residents, this did have the effect of preserving both locations... along with the remains of the victims.
In 2025 researchers announced the discovery of a human brain that had been vitrified (turned to glass) by the eruption. Small chunks of glass were found inside the skull of a 20 year-old male found lying in his bed at Herculaneum.
In order to be vitrified, the brain would have had to be exposed to high heat then rapidly cooled. The researchers speculate that the brain was flash-heated to over 510°C by the cloud of superheated gas and ash. Without the protection of the skull, the rest of his soft tissue is thought to have been destroyed by the pyroclastic surge.
The surge passed quickly, allowing the brain to cool rapidly without crystallizing - the end result being glossy black glassy fragments. The process was over so fast that it actually preserved neurons inside the glassy brain, despite the remains being nearly 2,000 years old!
The Roman-Neolithic Mix-and-Match Skeleton
Many cultures attempt to bury their dead intact - but one set of bones uncovered at a Roman cemetery in Belgium posed archaeologists a bit of a puzzle, as the "skeleton" was made up from multiple people.
The remains were initially thought to be Roman due to a bone pin from that era being found near the skull. Despite this, the body was arranged in a position atypical for Roman burials... and radiocarbon dating revealed that some of the bones were actually from the stone age.
Explanations for the composite skeleton vary. One possibility is that the Romans may have stumbled across a Stone Age grave and accidentally damaged the skull. In order to "make reparations" to the ancient bones, they replaced the skull and grave goods - essentially restoring the body.
Another possibility is that the Romans assembled the skeleton themselves from a mixture of Neolithic and contemporary bones, perhaps to spiritually "connect" the Romans to the ancient inhabitants of the area!
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| The Virú shark-hunters were often buried with spare limbs - I wonder why? (Marcelo Cidrack) |
The Shark Hunters Buried with Extra Limbs
It's not incredibly uncommon for bodies to be missing limbs, and it's also not unheard of for bodies to be buried with slaves or servants for the afterlife. Rather more uncommon are burials that that include extra limbs!
Archeologists investigating a Peruvian costal settlement inhabited by the pre-Inca Virú culture discovered graves containing skeletons with spare limbs - one particular grave even contained a full skeleton with two extra left legs. It's believed that this Virú settlement specialized in shark fishing, and the grave mentioned above is thought to have belonged to a shark hunter due to the grave goods buried alongside them.
It's unknown what purpose these limbs served, but researchers note that the occupants of these burials often had signs of trauma on their own bones. Perhaps the extra limbs were a battle trophy or sacrifice, meant to bring the deceased prestige in the afterlife... or maybe they were spares in case of marauding ghostly sharks!
The Medieval Man with a Knife for a Hand
Archaeologists were investigating a Lombard (early Medieval) cemetery in Povegliano Veronese, Italy, when they uncovered an unusual body with an even stranger weapon. Like many of the other burials, the body was that of an armed adult male. Unlike the other burials, this man had clearly suffered an amputated right forearm.
Analysis of the amputation suggested it was carried out via an angled cut from a blow - perhaps it was intentional (for medical reasons or as a punishment) or alternatively it may have been lost in combat. Given the era in which the amputation occurred this would have all been without the benefit of anesthetic and antibiotics... but the bone shows signs of having healed, so we know he survived this ordeal.
Perhaps the strangest thing about the burial was the knife-blade and buckle placed across the chest at the end of the missing right arm. Biomechanical stress on the bone indicates that something had been pressed up against it - combined with the carefully positioned buckle and blade, this suggests he used of a knife-blade prosthetic forelimb. This idea is bolstered by unusual wear on the teeth, consistent with holding a leather strap in place while tightening the prosthesis!
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| The mummified Lindow Man was found during a peat-cutting operation... (bernswaelz) |
The Brutal Bog Burial of the Lindow Man
Bog mummies have been found throughout Europe, but the Lindow Man of England stands out of the brutality of his demise.
In 1984 a preserved human leg was discovered in amongst harvested peat. The resulting investigation of the Lindow Moss peat bog uncovered other parts of a male body, with radiocarbon dating suggesting he was killed between 2 BC and 119 AD. The hair and skin of the body remain in fairly good condition, along with a fox-fur band worn around his arm... and an animal sinew garrote looped around his neck.
The Lindow Man seems to have come from a somewhat pampered life - his well manicured fingernails indicate that he did little manual work, while his facial hair had been kept trimmed. He seems to have eaten an unleavened griddle cake as a last meal, cooked over a fire on which heather had been burnt.
It's unknown if the Lindow Man was a willing sacrifice, a condemned criminal or perhaps even the victim of a murder, but he suffered a violent and ritualistic death. He swallowed mistletoe, was struck twice on top of the head with a heavy object (possibly a narrow axe) and once in the back hard enough to break a rib. He was then garroted with enough force that it may have broken his neck, had his throat cut and was placed face down in the waters of the bog.
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